Why We Preach the Bible Verse by Verse

At Liberty Church, we believe the Bible deserves to be heard carefully and in context.

That is why most of our preaching is expositional. In simple terms, we work through a book of the Bible verse by verse, passage by passage, asking what the text actually says and what it means for us.

There are good reasons for that.

First, it keeps the preacher honest. If I choose a new, interesting subject every week, I can easily fall back on the things I already care about, or I can avoid difficult passages. But when we work through a book of the Bible, the Bible sets the agenda.

Right now, we are preaching through the book of Job which is Old Testament poetry, so I'll move more quickly than if I'm preaching through a New Testament letter like Ephesians. Verse-by-verse preaching does not necessarily mean spending the same amount of time on every verse. It means allowing the text itself to set the agenda.

Second, expositional preaching helps us understand Scripture in context. A verse belongs to a paragraph, a book, and a larger story. Instead of beginning with, “What do I want to say?” I begin with, “What is this passage saying?”

Our aim is not to make Christianity complicated. We want to pursue authentic Christianity through simple faith in Christ and serious engagement with Scripture.

The preacher’s job is not to improve upon the Bible. It is to open the text, explain it clearly, and let God’s Word speak.

In a sense, this is also our church-growth plan. We believe that when the Bible is faithfully taught, the Church will appear.

That is why we preach the Bible verse by verse.